Post by Bonobo on Oct 28, 2010 22:54:30 GMT 1

Peter, here is the news you will never come across in the Netherlands.

Beware Bieszczady bears, say rangers28.10.2010 13:39

Forest rangers in the south-eastern Bieszczady mountains have warned that brown bears roaming the area have become increasingly aggressive recently.

This signals that winter will be long and frosty this year, says Edward Marszalek, from the regional State Forest Office in Krosno.

“A bear chased and caught up with a large stag but the deer probably had a damaged leg. However, it’s quite surprising that the bear also killed a doe, which was in a good condition. Such behavior shows that the bears are very determined to eat to the full and will not be satisfied with berries or larvae of insects,” he told Polish Radio.

About 120 brown bears live in the mountainous region of south-eastern and southern Poland. Studies on their life and behavior are currently under way.

Thanks to fitting them with electronic collars, researchers have established that a single bear tends to occupy a large territory of over one thousand square meters.

They frequently come close to human settlements and tourist routes, so it is good to be on guard while visiting the land of the bear, forest rangers say.

Post by Bonobo on Nov 6, 2010 23:19:21 GMT 1

Resurgent goat population in Tatra mountains05.11.2010 13:50There are 841 chamois (mountain goats) in the Tatras, according to this autumn’s count of the rare animals, carried out on the Polish and Slovak side of the mountains.

At the time of the census, 142 chamois were on the Polish side and 699 on the Slovakian.

The area of the national park on the Slovak side is five times that of the Polish Tatra National Park. The Tatra chamois mostly inhabit the area under the mountain ridge, which is the formal border between the two countries, crossing over at will.

This year the chamois have been particularly prolific, with 74 newcomers in the herd. Since winter is the most difficult time for the Tatra goats, many which fall prey to predators or even die in avalanches, another census is to be held in the spring.

Tatra mountain chamois have been counted since 1954 and since 1957 in collaboration with Slovak services. In the year 2000 the population of the animals dropped to a dramatic low, with only 69 chamois counted. Since then the goats have been springing back. Tatra chamois are a protected species.

Post by Bonobo on Dec 31, 2010 15:21:55 GMT 1

Poland’s bison gets 5 million euro27.12.2010 17:01Twenty million zloty (5 million euro) has been earmarked to protect the bison herd in Poland.

Eighty five percent of the sum comes from EU infrastructure and environment funds and the remainder from Polish sources.

The project starts in 2011 in the north-east, Western Pomerania and in the Podkarpacie regions.

A considerable slice of the money will go to north-east Poland and to the Białowieża forest, home to some of the most unspoilt primeval forest in Europe and what experts consider to be an overpopulation of bison.

That is why for several years now the animals, which are a protected species in Poland, are being relocated.

Last year’s census totalled some 450 bison living in Białowieża in the wild, and another 40 at the Breeding Centre there. Other forest locations have about 90 bison each.

With the new project, it is also hoped that some bison can be moved to the Augustowska forest.

The project also includes genetic monitoring of the animals, which is hoped to bring new information that could later be used in scientific research on the bison.

Post by Bonobo on Jan 11, 2011 19:33:43 GMT 1

A clinic for lynx is to be set up in Przemyśl in the Podkarpacie region south eastern Poland, part of the already operating rehabilitation center for protected species.

The clinic will help the animals found wounded in road accidents or injured by poachers.

The forests of Podkarpacie, mainly in the Bieszczady and Beskidy regions, are the largest settlement of lynx in Poland. There are only some 200 of these wild cats living in the south east of Poland, and are very rarely seen, hiding in the inaccessible, wild parts of the forests.

The lynx is a strictly protected species in Poland. But with the total ban on hunting the cats, introduced in 1995, the population of the animals is slowly growing.

Smaller settlements of lynx can be found in the Bialowieza Forest or in the Tatra mountains.

A special colony (chain?) of lynx has been set up in the Kampinos National Park in central Poland, near Warsaw, as part of the reintroduction of the European lynx to Poland.

The WWF has also launched a programme of resettling lynx from Estonia to Poland to help enlarge the population of these unique forest predators in Poland.

Post by Bonobo on Mar 20, 2011 14:44:54 GMT 1

New census shows bat increase in Poland15.03.2011 13:39The annual national census of bats is nearing its completion, with reports from the Suwalski Landscape Park and Protected Area showing that the number of bats wintering there has risen from 37 in 2007 to 131.

Researchers found representatives of four species: mostly Daubenton’s bat, as well as the brown long-eared bat, barbastelle and northern bat.

This year’s count was made difficult because of the high snows and bad weather, meaning that many of the places where the bats winter were snowed-in.

Last year, the Landscape Park authorities had put up 50 roosting boxes in the forest and, before the winter, readied a number of caves for the bats.

The park is also home to several other species of bat which spend the summer in Poland but fly away for the winter, and boasts one of the only two colonies of pond bats in Poland. Altogether, there are 22 species of bats native to Poland. All have protected status.

Post by Bonobo on Aug 8, 2012 21:49:48 GMT 1

Poland to reintroduce sturgeon into rivers23.07.2012 12:17Poland is to reintroduce Atlantic sturgeon to its rivers to replace the lost population from several decades ago, the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture has announced.

There are now three research centres in Poland charged with “the pioneer task of bringing it back to [the country’s] rivers and the Baltic waters,” the agency says.

The return of the Atlantic sturgeon would have a significant positive impact on the ecosystem and economy in Poland, the organization stresses.

The species, which can weight up to 400 kilograms and grow up to 4 meters in length,was once sought after for its meat and caviar.

As the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture underscores, the restoration of the Atlantic sturgeon in Poland is a difficult and costly challenge, which may bring about results no sooner than in over a decade.

The Atlantic sturgeon, which may live up to 80 years, was last caught in the Vistula river in 1965.